Q. David Bowers
MINTS: Various mint reports, etc., often refer to the Carson Mint or the Mint at Carson; the present text, except in direct quotations, follows the numismatic nomenclature of Carson City Mint. The word Mint, when capitalized by itself without mention of a city, refers to the Philadelphia Mint.
NAMES: The name of the sculptor is spelled in this text as Augustus Saint Gaudens. Original spelling was erratic, and such variations as Augustus S. Gaudens and Augustus St. Gaudens (very common) have been changed to Saint Gaudens. Early Mint official Henry Voight's surname also appears as Voigt in Mint records. R.W.Julian has used the Voight spelling. John W. Haseltine's surname has been misspelled as Hazeltine in innumerable books and catalogues (e.g., the entire section of Haseltine's Type Table reprinted in the 1945 catalogue of "The World's Greatest Collection"); in the present text such errors have been corrected.
NOVODEL: The term novodel, long standard in Russian numismatics for pieces made by an official mint in later years from backdated dies, is applied to certain issues as 1801-2-3 "restrike" Proof dollars, 1804 dollars, 1853 Proof dollars, and certain other issues of which no originals were ever made. (Technically, novodel can also refer to specimens struck from original dies at a later time; I prefer restrike for this use.) I prefer this to, for example, "antedated fantasy" (Newman and Bressett referring to the 1804 dollar), piece de caprice (Don Taxay and others), etc., although these terms are also applicable in certain instances. On the other hand, the term restrike implies the issuance at a later date of coins from the same dies earlier used to make originals in the year indicated on the dies. This is not applicable to 1801-2-3 and 1853 Proof dollars, as no Proofs were struck of these in the years stated on the dies; the dies were created at a later date.
OFFICIALS: Such words as director and secretary are capitalized only when used contiguously with a person's name. Thus, director of the Mint and secretary of the Treasury are capitalized when used as Director of the Mint Henry Richard Linderman (or Mint Director Henry Richard Linderman) or Secretary of the Treasury Sherman, but not as Henry Richard Linderman, director of the Mint, etc. Original use in the Annual Report of the Director of the Mint and other government publications was inconsistent.
RESTRIKE: Refers to a coin struck from original dies, for numismatic purposes, at a date significantly later than on the obverse die. Also see novodel.
SCARCE, RARE, etc. The terms scarce, rare, etc., are relative. A Morgan or Peace dollar considered scarce or rare may be much more plentiful than a Liberty Seated dollar described as such. In any event, the Universal Rarity Scale (URS) is specific.
SINISTER: See DEXTER above.
SUBSIDIARY: The term subsidiary, as related to coinage, refers to coins worth less in bullion or meltdown value than their face value. After implementation of the Act of 1853, lesser silver denominations became subsidiary coins (as the three-cent piece had been since 1851), but the silver dollar remained of full (or better) value. After 1873, when the silver dollar became subsidiary, it was popular practice in Mint reports and elsewhere to use the term subsidiary to refer to silver coins having a face value of less than a dollar, and not to silver dollars. Thus, for example, in 1921 subsidiary coinage referred to denominations from the dime to the half dollar, not to silver dollars, although all denominations from the dime to dollar had bullion values less than their face values.